Published: Monday, March 10, 2014 at 05:14 PM.

Photo Galleries

BELMONT – When Belmont Abbey College’s women’s basketball team left the Wheeler Center basketball court on March 1, it was as dejected and disappointed as it had been all season long.

Fast forward to Monday morning’s practice session – or less than 12 hours after the Lady Crusaders found out they would get a second chance in the NCAA Division II championship tournament.

“We’re really excited about it,” said coach Jason Williams, whose team practiced last week in hopes it would be an at-large selection after losing 78-77 to Barton in the Conference Carolinas quarterfinals.

Now the Lady Crusaders (22-8) will play their first national tournament game in 12 years with the exuberance and enthusiasm of starting over.

“You know, until last Saturday, we’d gone pretty hard from October to March,” Williams said of his first season on the job that ended with his getting league coach of the year. “So getting a second chance means a lot.”

Belmont Abbey’s second chance is in the Southeast Regionals on Friday against Wingate at noon at Lenoir-Rhyne University’s Shuford Gymnasium. Wingate is a familiar foe, as the Lady Crusaders lost 65-53 at Wingate’s Cuddy Arena on Nov. 30 in an early season non-conference contest. Both teams may have the same players, but are vastly different in so many ways since then.

The Lady Crusaders went on to have their first 20-win season since 2005 and had winning streaks of five games and six games while going 15-3 in league play.

The balanced attack was led by junior forward McKenzie Owen, who leads the team in scoring (17.9) and rebounding (7.2). Other top scorers are sophomore Morgan Midkiff (15.6) and senior Kelsey Long (10.2), with senior Melisa Foures (7.1) another top rebounder and senior Candace Fox (5.6), Midkiff (3.0) and Long (2.2) the top passers.

Wingate, under second-year head coach Ann Hancock, rebounded for an uncharacteristic Lady Bulldogs’ season of 13-16 last season to go 24-5 – capped by Sunday’s 77-73 win over regional host Lenoir-Rhyne in the South Atlantic Conference championship game at Furman’s Timmons Arena. Wingate is making its 12th NCAA Division II tournament appearance and has won three regional tournaments in their past – in 1995, 1996 and 2008.

Senior Kayla Harris leads the Lady Bulldogs with 17.4 points and 9.4 rebounds and she is coming off an MVP performance in the SAC tournament in which she averaged 22.7 points and 10.3 rebounds.

“We’re both different teams now,” Williams said. “When we played them in November, we weren’t nearly as polished as we are now.”

Wingate and the Abbey also have playoff history, albeit all in the Lady Bulldogs’ favor. Wingate beat the Lady Crusaders all four times the teams met when they were in NAIA schools in the 1980s and 1990s, the last time in 1992. Given second life, Williams thinks his team will be recharged and ready in the Lady Crusaders’ sixth all-time regional appearance.

“We’re approaching this with the idea of playing three games and going to the Elite Eight,” Williams said.

BELMONT – When Belmont Abbey College’s women’s basketball team left the Wheeler Center basketball court on March 1, it was as dejected and disappointed as it had been all season long.

Fast forward to Monday morning’s practice session – or less than 12 hours after the Lady Crusaders found out they would get a second chance in the NCAA Division II championship tournament.

“We’re really excited about it,” said coach Jason Williams, whose team practiced last week in hopes it would be an at-large selection after losing 78-77 to Barton in the Conference Carolinas quarterfinals.

Now the Lady Crusaders (22-8) will play their first national tournament game in 12 years with the exuberance and enthusiasm of starting over.

“You know, until last Saturday, we’d gone pretty hard from October to March,” Williams said of his first season on the job that ended with his getting league coach of the year. “So getting a second chance means a lot.”

Belmont Abbey’s second chance is in the Southeast Regionals on Friday against Wingate at noon at Lenoir-Rhyne University’s Shuford Gymnasium. Wingate is a familiar foe, as the Lady Crusaders lost 65-53 at Wingate’s Cuddy Arena on Nov. 30 in an early season non-conference contest. Both teams may have the same players, but are vastly different in so many ways since then.

The Lady Crusaders went on to have their first 20-win season since 2005 and had winning streaks of five games and six games while going 15-3 in league play.

The balanced attack was led by junior forward McKenzie Owen, who leads the team in scoring (17.9) and rebounding (7.2). Other top scorers are sophomore Morgan Midkiff (15.6) and senior Kelsey Long (10.2), with senior Melisa Foures (7.1) another top rebounder and senior Candace Fox (5.6), Midkiff (3.0) and Long (2.2) the top passers.

Wingate, under second-year head coach Ann Hancock, rebounded for an uncharacteristic Lady Bulldogs’ season of 13-16 last season to go 24-5 – capped by Sunday’s 77-73 win over regional host Lenoir-Rhyne in the South Atlantic Conference championship game at Furman’s Timmons Arena. Wingate is making its 12th NCAA Division II tournament appearance and has won three regional tournaments in their past – in 1995, 1996 and 2008.

Senior Kayla Harris leads the Lady Bulldogs with 17.4 points and 9.4 rebounds and she is coming off an MVP performance in the SAC tournament in which she averaged 22.7 points and 10.3 rebounds.

“We’re both different teams now,” Williams said. “When we played them in November, we weren’t nearly as polished as we are now.”

Wingate and the Abbey also have playoff history, albeit all in the Lady Bulldogs’ favor. Wingate beat the Lady Crusaders all four times the teams met when they were in NAIA schools in the 1980s and 1990s, the last time in 1992. Given second life, Williams thinks his team will be recharged and ready in the Lady Crusaders’ sixth all-time regional appearance.

“We’re approaching this with the idea of playing three games and going to the Elite Eight,” Williams said.